{"id":6486,"date":"2021-08-20T00:03:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T22:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/francisco-de-zurbaran-and-the-italian-still-life\/"},"modified":"2021-11-23T15:27:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T14:27:48","slug":"francisco-de-zurbaran-and-the-italian-still-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/territories\/international-routes\/painters-and-works-of-art-between-italy-and-spain\/francisco-de-zurbaran-and-the-italian-still-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n and the Italian still life"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n and the Italian still life <\/h1>\n<div class=\"testo\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/arte_zurbaran_539x245.jpg\" width=\"539\" height=\"245\" alt=\"Natura morta - Zurbaran\" align=\"left\">Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n (1598-1664) belongs to the generation of the great masters who worked for King <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/ascanio-filomarino\/filomarino-and-the-masaniello-revolt\/philip-iv-of-habsburg\/\" title=\"Philip IV of Habsburg\">Philip IV<\/a>, the lucky patron of the golden age of Spanish painting. Although there is no evidence that Zurbar\u00e1n ever stayed in Italy, his style reveals a deep understanding of the work of <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/ascanio-filomarino\/an-ambitious-prelate-and-his-passion-for-art\/michelangelo-merisi-known-as-caravaggio\/\" title=\"Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio\">Caravaggio<\/a> and Italian culture. The lesson of reality of Caravaggio&#8217;s painting, with its truth of lights and shadows, is captured by the painter (who was sometimes called &#8220;the Spanish Caravaggio&#8221;) and is united with a Classical vein which is a prelude to full Baroque, with its dynamism and the triumphant optimism of forms. Shy and reserved, Zurbar\u00e1n was formed in <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/museo-nacional-de-escultura-of-valladolid\/juan-de-roelass-alegoria-de-la-virgen-inmaculada\/seville\/\" title=\"Seville\">Seville<\/a> with Pedro D\u00edaz de Villanueva and dedicated the best of his production to Spanish convents. Fervent and effective in his simplicity which is devoid of artifice and amazing in its ability to reproduce the real in a direct manner (see the lavish and &#8220;superbly tangible&#8221; <em>Crucified Christ<\/em> of Chicago, 1627), Zurbar\u00e1n was one of the greatest painters of still lifes of all times. The few compositions that he made exhibit the prodigious skill with which he was able to describe objects and fine details. While the native of <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/alcala-de-henares\/alcala-de-henares-the-town-of-cisneros-cervantes-and-the-jesuits\/toledo\/\" title=\"Toledo\">Toledo<\/a>, Juan S\u00e1nchez Cot\u00e1n, the founder of the Spanish still life and an extraordinary artist in his own right, had no inkling of Caravaggio (see <em>Still Life<\/em>, 1602, <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/alcala-de-henares\/the-ermita-del-cristo-de-los-doctrinos\/madrid\/\" title=\"Madrid\">Madrid<\/a>, Museo del Prado), Zurbar\u00e1n seems to have a direct knowledge of his work. Caravaggio powerfully influenced his style: the Spaniard must have absorbed it through the work of <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/urban-routes\/ascanio-filomarino\/the-archbishops-palace-and-the-cathedral\/jusepe-de-ribera-called-lo-spagnoletto\/\" title=\"Jusepe de Ribera, called lo Spagnoletto\">Ribera<\/a> and <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/international-routes\/equestrian-statues\/philip-iv-and-the-plaza-de-oriente-in-madrid\/diego-rodriguez-de-silva-y-velazquez\/\" title=\"Diego Rodr\u00edguez de Silva y Vel\u00e1zquez\">Vel\u00e1zquez<\/a> who studied in Italy, and perhaps thanks to the paintings by Italian artists in Spain (like the paintings of Carlo Saraceni in the Cathedral of Toledo). The extraordinary <em>Still life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose<\/em> of Pasadena (1633, Norton Simon Museum, image), &#8220;in the crystalline precision of detail&#8221; (Longhi) reveals the profound admiration which Spanish felt for the Lombard artist, so that it was equated with <em>Basket of Fruit<\/em> by Caravaggio in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana of <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/international-routes\/painters-and-works-of-art-between-italy-and-spain\/juan-bautista-maino-a-spanish-caravaggista\/milan\/\" title=\"Milan\">Milan<\/a>. The use of light and the glossy, almost ruthlessly detailed description is the same. Zurbar\u00e1n&#8217;s solemnity of composition and the &#8220;silent poetry of objects&#8221; (Tommaso Montanari, 2012) anticipates the new and leads directly to the experience of Giorgio Morandi. By objects that seem to have &#8220;a prodigious and subtle myterious intensity&#8221; (P\u00e9rez S\u00e1nchez, 1995), the Spaniard attains &#8220;almost musical harmonies&#8221; (Longhi). He achieves this cleverly and like Caravaggio, ennobling daily experience, illuminating it with a magical light that renders the vulgar sublime.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"\/en\/territories\/international-routes\/painters-and-works-of-art-between-italy-and-spain\/the-portrait-of-francesco-i-duke-of-modena\/\" title=\"The portrait of Francesco I, Duke of Modena\">&lt;&lt;&lt;&#8212;previous page<\/a> &nbsp; <a href=\"\/en\/territories\/international-routes\/painters-and-works-of-art-between-italy-and-spain\/italian-artists-in-spain-the-case-of-luca-giordano\/\" title=\"Italian artists in Spain: the case of Luca Giordano\">next page&#8212;&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n and the Italian still life Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n (1598-1664) belongs to the generation of the great masters who worked for King Philip IV, the lucky patron of the golden age of Spanish painting. Although there is no evidence that Zurbar\u00e1n ever stayed&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":7326,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6486","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6486"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11217,"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6486\/revisions\/11217"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalhistory.unite.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}